# I just read a very funny book; Your recommendation for others requested **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124 "2005-04-19T20:48:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/21 "2005-04-20T07:19:17Z")
Jose Saramago - Blindness ---
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Woodruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sarah\_Woodruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Woodruff)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/22 "2005-04-20T07:24:25Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest **Holiday’s In Hell** PJ ORourke. Travel writing from the political hot spots of the world at the time ( I think about 1988ish), brilliant observations and sarcasm. What more does one need?[/QUOTE] That’s a f’kin brilliant read. Also try **Age and Guile beats Youth, Inexperience and a Bad Haircut** where P.J. reflects back (and cringes at) his early journalistic career. If you’re into black comedy, try Martin Amis’ **The Information** - the protagonist is a bit of a sad case, but it’s side-splittingly funny. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/23 "2005-04-20T07:50:15Z")
There’s a reason this has been mentioned twice before - it is very different and very, very funny. Best of all, it has throw-away oneliners mixed in with some very subtle humour - something for everyone! (yes, I did open the thread just to mention it, and found that not one but two people had got there before me!) ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/24 "2005-04-20T08:13:42Z")
Yet another recommendation for _Good Omens_. And I always recommend Roy Blount, Jr., as he’s my favorite writer. _Now, Where Were We (Getting Back to Basic Truths We Have Lost Sight of Through No Fault of My Own)_ is my favorite of his books. _Camels are Easy, Comedy’s Hard_ is also good. They’re collections of essays. I’m not a huge fan of David Sedaris, but I will say that “You Can’t Kill the Rooster” from _Me Talk Pretty One Day_ is probably the single best essay ever written. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/25 "2005-04-20T08:27:53Z")
Okay, I’ll get on that bandwagon, too. _Good Omens_ is a great read. (Traffic problems always make me think of the Satanic M25 sigil, cranking out evil energy and bad vibes as hapless commuters trundle along it. Brilliant.) ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/26 "2005-04-20T13:53:15Z")
A quick Thank You to all who have replied so far. I have read some of those mentioned, but certainly not all. I have the newest by Redmond O’hanlon, Trawler , but haven’t started it yet. I’m putting lots in this thread in my summer “to read” list. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/27 "2005-04-20T14:10:12Z")
Hypocrite in a pouffy white dress : tales of growing up groovy and clueless Gilman, Susan Jane. I laughed out loud a couple of times, which is really out of character for me. Besides being funny, she really has had some interesting experiences. ---
**Author:** ![Theodore\_Striker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Theodore\_Striker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theodore_Striker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/28 "2005-04-20T14:18:34Z")
I’d have to recommend _Lamb_ by Christopher Moore. It’s basically the story of Christ, as told by his best friend, Biff. It gives a really offbeat and somewhat irreverent perspective to a lot of traditional tales from the Bible, good stuff for the open minded who enjoy darker humor. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/29 "2005-04-20T14:32:15Z")
My favorite funny books, which still make me laugh out loud: **Bored on the Rings** by Doug Kenney and Henry Beard of the Barvard Lampoon Just about any **Dave Barry** Book (except his novels), especially **Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs** James Lileks’ **Gallery of Regrettable Food** and **Interior Desecrations** (which I just picked up this weekend) Mike Nelson’s **Movie Megacheese** (but not his other books) Tom Weller’s **Science Made Stupid** and **Cvltvre Made Stupid** (both regrettably out of print) A. Whitney Brown’s **The Big Picture** – getting dated, but still funny **Doon** by The National Lampoon – tries too hard, but has its moments. Out-of-print send-up of Frank Herbert’s **Dune**. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/30 "2005-04-20T14:40:22Z")
I second David Sedaris and Christopher Moore… I’m puzzled by Nighttime’s suggestion of Blindness - funny? ---
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/31 "2005-04-20T14:52:57Z")
> [@Theodore Striker](#): > > I’d have to recommend _Lamb_ by Christopher Moore. It’s basically the story of Christ, as told by his best friend, Biff. It gives a really offbeat and somewhat irreverent perspective to a lot of traditional tales from the Bible, good stuff for the open minded who enjoy darker humor. I came here to suggest that book but since you beat me to it, I will add that anything by Christopher Moore will make you laugh. **Lamb** is still my favorite by him but I also enjoyed **The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove** and **Bloodsucking Fiends**. _Richard Brautigan_ is another author you might enjoy. The title story in **Revenge of the Lawn** made me laugh 'til I cried. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/32 "2005-04-20T15:05:06Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > _Three Men in a Boat_ by Jerome K. Jerome is classic. It’s old, yes, but it’s completely fresh and if you haven’t read it you have cheated yourself immensely. And after you’re done reading _Three Men in a Boat_, read Connie Willis’ book _To Say Nothing of the Dog_, in which a historian goes back in time to the Victorian age to recover a hideous looking piece of sculpture. Also, check out some of Donald Harrington’s Stay More novels, especially “The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks”, “The Cockroaches of Stay More” and “Thirteen Albatrosses”. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/33 "2005-04-20T15:09:09Z")
> [@melondeca](#): > > I came here to suggest that book but since you beat me to it, I will add that anything by Christopher Moore will make you laugh. **Lamb** is still my favorite by him but I also enjoyed **The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove** and **Bloodsucking Fiends**. I’ll add to the Christopher Moore contingent. I’m just upset that I was too busy (a) working and (b) posting about _The Shield_ and _Deadwood_ to be the first. ---
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/34 "2005-04-20T15:11:30Z")
[The Last Coin](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441470750/qid=1114009896/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/102-8181687-7720931?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by James P. Blaylock ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/35 "2005-04-20T15:13:55Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > I’m not a huge fan of David Sedaris, but I will say that “You Can’t Kill the Rooster” from _Me Talk Pretty One Day_ is probably the single best essay ever written. There’s a scene in **Dress your Family In Courduroy and Denim** with the Rooster and some “God! Damn! Fucking! Chicken wings!” that made me laugh so hard I started to black out. I second Steve Martin, although I think **Cruel Shoes** is his best prose. ("Soon we will be able to ask this strange tribe of boneless women the important scientific questions such as “What time is it?” and “How come no bones?”) OOP, I think, but pretty ubiquitous at used book stores. I’m just finishing Evelyn Waugh’s “The Loved One,” which is very funny, although not exactly recent (1948). Speaking of hilarious British authors, this thread is much too long to have not mentioned P.G. Wodehouse, author of the side-splitting Jeeves & Wooster stories. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/36 "2005-04-20T15:26:51Z")
Speaking of “hot off the presses,” have you read much Mark Twain? He can be hilariously funny, or viciously depressing, or both. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/37 "2005-04-20T16:07:11Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > Another non-fiction - _Last Chance To See_ by Douglas Adams of Hitchhiker fame. He travels around the world for the BBC to see the world’s most endangered animals. Funny and sad. > > As for fiction - _The Pleasure of My Company_ by Steve Martin. He’s a wonderful writer. Second the Last Chance to See. A great book; I loved the non-preachy sense of awe that he displayed in the book. He didn’t come across as a newly-converted conservation fanatic trying to get the rest of us to see how evil we all are. His sense of wonder came across beautifully, and his trademark humor was ever-present without seeming obligatory. And I especially liked the bit where he started referring to the Germans as Latvians (because they were so stereotypically German that no one would believe that they were real if he actually referred to them as Germans). Absolutely love this book. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/38 "2005-04-20T16:32:18Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > **Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter** - The main storyline is a young (18 years old) man falls in love with his aunt (by marriage), but there’s a hilarious subplot involving a radio soap opera writer named Pedro Camacho. I definitely giggled out loud reading this one. Hopefully much better than the movie based on it, [Tune In Tomorrow](http://imdb.com/title/tt0100822/), starring Keanu Reeves, Barbara Hershey, and Peter Falk. Falk is fantastic, but not worth watching the whole movie for. 🙂 I’m a big fan of Jasper Fforde’s **Thursday Next** books, starting with _The Eyre Affair_. Also, just about anything by **Peter David** , especially _Sir Apropos of Nothing_ and its sequel, _The Woad to Wuin_, both of which poke a great deal of fun at the standard fantasy genre. He also has two books called _Knight Life_ and _One Knight Only_, about King Arthur emerging from his enchanted cave and running for mayor of New York City. Very, very funny. And Morgan Le Fay is exiled to the town I live in, which makes it much funnier to me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/39 "2005-04-20T16:36:03Z")
> [@EuroMDguy](#): > > I’m puzzled by Nighttime’s suggestion of Blindness - funny? I _think_ that was joke. Well, I should hope so. My own recommendation is _A White Merc with Fins_ by James Hawes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124/40 "2005-04-20T16:46:24Z")
Add to that the works of Tim Dorsey. His crime novels, set in Florida, are laugh-out-loud funny! Better than Haissen, IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-read-a-very-funny-book-your-recommendation-for-others-requested/300124.md?page=3)